The Clear Creek swim team competed in the Mardi Gras swim meet on January 9 and 10. The meet was an invitational meet held at Creek in which several schools in the district competed. Both boys and girls took fifth place overall, succeeded by St. Agnes Academy, Westside High School, Clear Falls and Houston Lamar, which took first.

It was a varsity meet, with all twenty-five members competing. The team is led by head coach Anne Woolweaver. Coach Woolweaver has been head swim coach since 2009, having been an assistant coach before moving up.

“I think the swimmers swam pretty well. Our team is much smaller than others but as far as individuals swim they did very well,” Coach Woolweaver said.

The overall goal of the meet was to prepare for district and state. District took place on January 30. Woolweaver went on to name notable participants who were apart of various highlights. This included swimmers Ashton Duke, Logan Wene, Libby Goode, sisters Micaela and Peyton Roemer, Todd Lyle and team captain Conner McCord.

Ashton Duke, senior, got to the finals and top ten in all his events, which included the 200 yard freestyle, 4 by 50 yard freestyle, 4 by 100 yard freestyle relay and the 100 yard backstroke. Duke, who has been competing on the team since his freshman year, spoke on his thoughts on the meet.

“The meet was a great prelude to district and was even structured like the district meets.”

Libby Goode got second in the girls 100 yard freestyle and 4 by 50 yard freestyle relay and third in the 4 by 100 yard freestyle relay. Senior Micaela Roemer swam the 200 yard free relay, 400 free relay, 100 fly and 100 back.

“I was really happy with how our team performed,” said Roemer.

Micaela’s sister Peyton Roemer, freshman, competed in relays, 500 free and 200 free. Peyton got first in 500 and second in her 200.

“We did really good actually. I felt that my times were pretty good. I feel like our team bonded over the meet because we sat together and cheered each other on,” Peyton Roemer said.

Todd Lyle, junior, competed in the 50 yard free style, 100 free style, 200 free relay, and 400 free relay.

The team has been preparing as much as they can in various ways. This includes drills that focus on a certain event, swimming several yards for two and a half hours and ultimately swimming three to four miles a day.

“Swim those meets, swim at district, qualify for regionals, swim at regionals and qualify for state. What we want is for our swimmers to swim their best at whatever their last meet is, whether it’s district or state,” Woolweaver said.

The team has shown great confidence in their upcoming and remaining meets. Ashton Duke spoke on how he felt on the remaining meets.

“I feel like we’re going to do really well. We’ve been practicing really hard so I have high hopes for it,” Duke said.

Swim team captain and senior Conner McCord, who swam in the 200 yard individual medley, 100 fly and 200 and 400 yard relays spoke on their goal to “get as many swimmers as possible to regionals.”

Ashton Duke explained why he swims.

“I enjoy it because it’s different from all sports. I’d say being on a swim team is different from being on another team because you’re competing individually in most of your events but are contributing to the entire team’s events.”

“One of the things I tell them is they’ve worked really hard, just swim and leave [what happens] in the pool. No regrets.”

Micaela said how if she makes it to state, it will be the fourth time she has made it to state. She stated how she really wants people to see swimming as being as important as other sports. She also spoke on her years swimming at Creek.

“It’s been a great four years swimming and I’m really proud to represent Clear Creek High School and it’s something I will never forget.”

Coach Woolweaver was asked how she wants to impact and inspire her swimmers and said she wanted her swimmers to have pride not only in their school but in themselves. She stated how she wants them to know they worked hard, reached a goal, learned teamwork and were happy when reaching their goals.

“I’m excited and anxious to see how they perform. I think they have a good chance to qualify for regionals and I’m very hopeful that we’ll qualify,” Coach Woolweaver said. Woolweaver went on to say, “I want my swimmers to have pride not only in their school but in themselves. I want them to know they worked hard, reached a goal, and learned teamwork and happiness when reaching their goal.”